Emma's Arrival

Well, now that Emma is one week old, I finally have found a few spare minutes to share the story of her arrival. Before I begin, I would just like to say that she is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. I never imagined how much I could love someone until I became a mom on May 18, 2009.

The week leading up to Emma's arrival was filled with day after day of false labor so when I awoke last Sunday morning at 2 am with contractions that were 7 minutes apart for three consecutive hours, I thought, hmmm, maybe this might be it. As I was about to wake Larry up, they stopped...again. The rest of the day was very uneventful and contraction free. I tried walking (which led me to the neighborhood 7-11 for an ice cream sandwich) =), sitting on the yoga ball, accupressure points....still no contractions. This is when I decided that this baby was NEVER going to come.

During dinner on Sunday night around 6:30, I started getting contractions about 10-15 minutes apart. They felt a little different, but I pretty much just ignored them because I was sick and tired of being teased that my baby was on her way. Within a half hour, they ranged from 5-9 minutes apart. This continued for the next three hours. I could tell they were getting stronger but kept the thought in the back of my head that the hospital didn't really want to hear from us until they were 5 minutes apart for at least an hour. At 9:45, I asked Larry to call triage at the hospital and ask them if we should come in even if contractions were 6-7 minutes apart. They said come in if I was in pain. Now the pain I was dealing with was increasing, but nothing I felt like I couldn't handle. I just knew the pain was getting stronger, so we packed up the car and prepared to head to the hospital. Between the time I walked to the bathroom, used the bathroom, got a sweatshirt, and walked to the door, I had three contractions. For lack of a more appropriate thought, the first thought in my head was "Oh shit, I think I'm about to have a baby."

We drove to the hospital and got checked into triage around 10:30. My biggest fear was that they were going to check me and tell me I was 1 cm along and needed to go home. When I was checked, I was already 4-5 cm dilated and contractions were beginning to come every 2 1/2 -4 minutes. Larry reminds me that at this point I made some statement that Emma was never going to have siblings. =) The nurse said I definitely would get to stay at the hospital and asked if I wanted to walk around or just check into my room. Walking did not sound appealing so I opted to head up to our room. Room sounded much closer to epidural. My plan for drugs was to go as long as I could without an epidural but at this point, I was starting to think I needed one soon.

We got up to our room around 12 and they informed me that I had to be on an IV for awhile to get fluids before they could get me the epidural. I was certainly practicing our birthing class breathing at this point because the contractions seemed like they were right on top of each other. A paramedic intern was at the hospital that night and for training he put my IV in. That took longer than normal, but he finally worked that out and fluids were pumping away. I was getting pretty uncomfortable and denied the Phentanol (not sure of spelling) push into the IV because the thought of a "narcotic to just take off the edge until the anesthesiologist came" sounded bad for the baby. Well, that thought dissapated after 15 more minutes of painful contractions and it seemed to calm me until my savior, the anesthesiologist, arrived at 12:45. I was almost 8 cm at this time.

I had a previous bad experience with an epidural. When I had surgery when I was 19 to remove a fallopian cyst, they convinced me to get the epidural instead of general anesthesia because "I would be in much less pain when I woke up". Well, at that time, they made two attempts stabbing my back and never got the damn epidural in so I went under general anyways. I expressed my fear to the anesthesiologist, who assured me that he did so many of these that he could do them in his sleep. He was amazing and I barely felt a thing. By 1 am, I was much more relaxed and amazed to see contractions happening on the monitor but not be able to feel a thing. He told me I would be completely numb for the next hour and then I would feel a bit more pressure, but nothing should be painful. I sat back, expecting a very long night ahead of me.

Of course, shortly after the epidural, my blood pressure dropped enough for them to be concerned so they put an ephedrine push into the IV to increase blood pressure and had me lay on my left side to help. This seemed to do the trick. By 2:15, I started feeling pain again equivalent to the contractions. This pain sucked to say the least and I was sad to think that I could labor for hours in this level of discomfort. I kept pushing the magic button for more medicine, but that did not seem to help. =( The doctor came in at 2:30 after I complained of being in pain and she said I had the look of someone that needed to push. When she checked me, I was fully dilated and ready to push the baby out.

With the next contraction, I started pushing and Emma's heartrate dropped dramatically. They attempted to put a fetal monitor on her head and still could not pick up a strong heartbeat. The doctor told me she was going to have to get a vacuum to help get the baby out. The next few minutes were kind of a blur. Tons of people began rushing into the room and everyone seemed frantic. I, of course, was bawling my eyes out, worried that something was wrong with the baby. They weren't able to fit the first vacuum and had to get another one. I pushed as hard as I could and within 15 minutes, Emma was born. Once I knew she was okay, I could breathe a sigh of relief. The doctor did the needed stitching repairs while I held my angel in my arms.

Emma Kalai Lui weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and was 18 1/4 inches long, born on May 18, 2009 at 2:46 in the morning. I never knew how much my life would change after that moment. It looks like my piglet has awoken from a nap so I need to go feed her, but I will be sure to update on our first week home.

Please....

don't ask me if I'm still pregnant or if the baby has come yet. If I don't answer to phone to ignore those questions, people freak out and think I'm in labor, but low and behold, I am not. 3 hours of 6 minute apart contractions last night, and still nothing.

YES, I am still pregnant.

NO, this means the baby has not come yet.

And if you plan on throwing things off by asking me a different question, such as how am I feeling, then the answer to that one is that I feel like s**t.

Have a great day. (Can you tell that I'm a bit moody?)

"Late late every day"

Sometime, if you are really bored, ask Larry to sing you the "late" song. He is a very big fan and it brings back very fond memories of his childhood. =)

Untrue to the form of her parents, my dearest child is late. I have had several days in a row of contractions, but with no results. A few times they seemed to be coming more consistently and with more force. This could last for three hours straight and then they would stop. *sigh* Waiting is very challenging, but I know she will only come when she is ready and nothing I can do will force her out any sooner than she's ready. I'm tired. Pretty hormonal. Very ready to have this baby out. I am hoping to be holding her by the end of the weekend, but who knows. Yo, Emma, when are you coming???

Notice of Eviction

Dear Ms. Emma Kalai Lui,

This letter is to inform you that effective Friday May 22nd, you will no longer be permitted to reside in your current location. This eviction letter gives you plenty of notice to vacate the premises. In return for your cooperation, a new residence will be provided for free. Other perks to be included for early departure from your location. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. If you have not responded to this notice by 8 pm on May 21st, alternative means will be taken to remove you from the property.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Maile Lui, Landlord

I LOVE Being Pregnant!

Yes, I am grinning through my teeth with the title of this post. =D Little Miss Emma is still hanging out. Dilation was very minimal at my appointment today. They say "fingertip". I would rather they say "Well not quite 1 cm but we just didn't want you to feel bad." Of course I also keep being told that I could still go into labor tonight and how much I'm dilated now doesn't really mean much. By the way, the exam to tell me about this crappy lack o' dilation almost sent me to the ceiling! Holy moly. Shoving down on the top of my belly with one arm while shoving the other arm in my hoo-ha was not high on my list of fun things to do on a Tuesday afternoon. It did not hurt at all last week, so clearly there is a difference in the comfort of this based on who does the damn exam. Ugh.

I have another appointment next Tuesday, when I am a glorious 40 1/2 weeks. Then I am scheduled to be induced next Thursday the 21st if she does not arrive by then. The nurse today said based on everything going on with my body...the contractions, Emma's head chillin' on my cervix, back pains, fatigue...all signs that my body is getting ready for labor indicate to her that I will go into labor on my own and she doubts that I will make it to induction day. I hope Emma comes on her own because the induction process can take much longer than normal labor and you are not allowed to eat once you check into the hospital. She mentioned that if I go in at 8 Thursday night, I could possibly not have a baby until Sunday. Wtf? No thanks. Starve me for three days and then expect me to have enough energy to have a baby. Not so much.

So while I am not looking forward to the work and pain of labor, all I need to jump things into gear are stronger contractions. I don't want to rush my little princess, but....C'mon stronger contractions. I am ready. Bring it on.

10 minutes, 10 minutes, nothing

I thought for sure we were going to end up in Labor and Delivery last night. I started having contractions around 8:30 last night. They were coming about every 10 minutes, some less comfortable than others, but none that "prevented me from talking". The hospital only wants to see you if they are 5 minutes apart, 1 minute long, last for at least an hour, and are painful enough that you can't talk through them. 11:30 rolled around with the same pattern, so then I felt more confident that Emma would not be making her debut quite yet. I did, however, have the feeling that she was not going to wait until Friday either. Once I finally fell asleep, I had constant dreams of delivering her. Contractions came and went all night. I was wide awake from 330 until 530, contractions every 6-10 minutes or so. Boy oh boy, is my back aching today. BUT, I'm still pregnant. I will probably hang out close to home today. Larry is on standby. I have a doctor's appointment at 1:45 today. While I am not a huge fan of the "checking", I'm wondering if all this BS the past few days has led to any progress at all. 3 days until D-day. I am so over being pregnant. =(

1 more week...Better believe I'm counting down!

Hooray! I made it through one of the longest weeks of my life, which entailed finals, papers, presentations, and my last day of work. Ugh, now I can just relax, perhaps get some sleep, and finish reading Breaking Dawn before Emma makes her appearance. My last day of work was great. My adorable boys presented me with a flower pot of orchids with paintings and their beautiful photos on it. I will sure miss them, but we promised to keep in touch through Skype. (I doubt I will trust them around Emma for a bit!) My coworkers ended their day by each of them giving me a WOW (the Children's Workshop term for "say something positive") so I unfortunately did not end my day without a bunch of alligator tears. I was incredibly touched by all of the kind words. I'm sure my 3 1/2 months off will go by quickly and I will be back in no time. Although...right now, time does not seem to be moving quickly. Emma's feet, on the other hand, never seem to stop moving. Now that she has clearly dropped, it is nice not to be kicked right under the boob, but I don't think she realizes her kicks propel her head into my...well, you know. I gasped when I saw my 39 week photos. Now that's a belly!




My wonderful office mates, Laura, Me, and Brandi after my last exhausting Friday!

And here are the standard belly shots. No wonder I have not been sleeping!

3:30 AM

Yep, I am so prepped for nighttime feedings. Been awake since 2 and cannot go back to sleep with this wiggle worm moving all over the place! For some reason, my hands and feet are throbbing and my hips are just begging for me to not have to sleep on my sides anymore! I have to get up for work in two and a half hours. Someone want to sing me a lullaby? =)

I had a dr. appointment on Tuesday. My blood pressure was a bit higher than normal but still within normal range. I knew it was elevated because I wasn't exactly looking forward to my first cervix check. As far as that goes, no dilation at this point, but cervix is effaced and soft and thin. None of this information indicates jack diddly about pending labor so I am just chillin. =) The baby has dropped and is "nice and low". Nice, I suppose, if you love the constant pressure of a baby head on your business! They said I could go into labor tomorrow or in three weeks. Nice, precise info. I was promised not to be pregnant past Memorial Day weekend. How kind.

The best news of the week is that I am no longer a student! I submitted all final papers and my thesis on Tuesday night at my Masters reception. Last night was my last final!!! I felt pretty good about it. I'm supposed to showcase my portfolio on Friday evening for my second credential that I just completed to teach Moderate/Severe disabilities (I have a Mild/Moderate credential). I asked for a back up plan, just in case. My professor wasn't too concerned if I came or not since everything is uploaded online. If I am given the choice to NOT come, what the heck do you think I'm going to choose?!

So with school FINALLY behind me, all I have left is to patiently wait for this baby to be born. I have two more days of work so I'm hoping Emma will give me at least a few days to veg out before she arrives. I have been giving her lots of rubs and words of praise for staying in my belly long enough to finish this semester! At least she demonstrates the ability to listen to mommy, so I will remind her of this when she's 9 and 15 and 21.... =) The waiting part is hard. I'm very ready to be un-pregnant. I don't feel as great as I supposedly look still, but I am not dying by any means. Just tired. Round. Achy. Anxious. I am still in awe of the things a body can do and what women go through. I don't think the magnitude of what I have actually managed to survive through this past 9 months has actually hit me....(working full time up til 39 freaking weeks pregnant, going to school full time, finishing my masters, somehow managing to not alienate my dear dear husband!) Perhaps it will all come to fruition when I finally get to hold my daughter. Ah, that reward right there will certainly outweigh the lame ass keychain I got from SDSU!

Thank you Kennon!

Our friend Kennon does photography on the side and was nice enough to take some photos for us last weekend when I was at 37 weeks. It was a beautiful Saturday after a few gloomy days. We took photos down at the Wedding Bowl in La Jolla Cove (called so because many wedding take place here). It was a bit windy, but I was really glad that none of the birds pooped on us! Here is the link to his website...

http://www.kennonkwok.com/gallery/8077913_ekGfX#526274116_DA4jn